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Long Beach Street Circuit
2015 Long Beach ePrix | cityflag = LBF | natflag = USA | fastestlap = 0:57.938 | natfld = SUI | fldriver = Sébastien Buemi | qualifying = 0:56.937 | natqd = GER | qdriver = Daniel Abt | wins = 1 | natwd = BRA | wdriver = Nelson Piquet Jr.}} The Long Beach Street Circuit is a temporary street circuit located in Long Beach, California, USA, that hosted the Long Beach ePrix, a round of the FIA Formula E Championship. Famed for hosting both Formula One and the IndyCar Series, the Long Beach Street Circuit was modified for FE's use, with a shortened circuit created by cutting through South Pine Avenue. After two seasons FE would leave Long Beach, having obtained a deal to race around the streets of New York City from 2016/17 onward.'FIA RELEASES REVISED SEASON THREE CALENDAR: DATE SWAP FOR NEW YORK CITY AND MONTREAL', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 28/09/2016), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2016/september/fia-releases-revised-season-three-formula-e-calendar/, (Accessed 28/09/2016) Background The concept of running a race around Long Beach was first proposed in the 1970s, as Formula One investigated its eternal desire to expand in the United States. Numerous negotiations resulted in the creation of the Long Beach Street Circuit in Long Beach, California, which staged its first race in 1975. The circuit would go through various changes throughout its life as host of the F1 World Championship, with roads such as Shoreline Drive becoming world renowned as a result. The costs of hosting F1 ultimately saw the circuit withdraw from hosting the United States Grand Prix West in 1984, with CART taking over the race as the Grand Prix of Long Beach. The circuit was once again heavily revised, with the majority of the slow chicanes removed, with another redesign instigated in 1992. A major overhaul was subsequently required in 1999 after building works cut off part of the circuit, resulting in the current layout with the run past the fountain opposite the Aquarium of the Pacific. Formula E History The Long Beach Street Circuit was the unsurprising favourite to host the Long Beach ePrix when it was first announced as a round of the inaugural 2014/15 FIA Formula E Championship in 2013. The circuit would, however, be modified to fit FE's requirements, resulting in the fountain complex being completely cut off, with the field instead sweeping down South Pine Avenue to reach Seaside Way. From there the circuit was the same as the one used for the Grand Prix of Long Beach by IndyCar, and would host its first race on 4 April 2015. Circuit History Nelson Piquet Jr. claimed victory in the first Long Beach ePrix, before the series returned in 2016, using the same altered layout as 2015. Lucas di Grassi won that race, before the series opted to leave Long Beach permanently from 2016/17 onward, instead opting to race around New York City. Circuit Layout A lap of the ePrix variant of the Long Beach Street Circuit opened with the familiar run down Shoreline Drive, flanked either side by Palm trees. A chicane shortly after the start/finish line formed the first and second corners, a right-left combo, before the field carried on to complete the rest of Ocean Boulevard. However, rather than turn left to sweep past the fountain, the FE circuit turned right onto South Pine Avenue. After a short blast down South Pine the field would rejoin the full circuit via turn four, a 90° right onto Seaside Way. A long straight followed before the field entered another 90° right at turn five, before the long apex left of turn six fed the field into the hairpin right of turn seven. That put the FE field back onto Shoreline Drive and the start/finish straight, with the pitlane running on the right-hand side of Shoreline Drive. Records A full list of records for the are outlined below, including a list of race winners. Winners Below is a list of all of the winners of ePrix held at the : Race-by-Race Records The race-by-race records for the are outlined below: References Videos and Images: * References: Category:Circuits Category:Long Beach ePrix